What's in a name?
by hanatsuki14
Summary: Sometimes what means nothing in one language means something in another. slight Cloti (very slight) Rate K for one bad word.


**I'm sorry, I just had to write it. It was annoying me too much. You'll understand when you reach the bottom. Also, please excuse the lack of plot.**

 **This is not meant as bashing! I just needed to let people know! (Honestly, I just needed to get it of my chest)**

* * *

"Tifa, Tifa!"

Looking up from where she had been leaning over the bar counter, Tifa saw the owner of the exited voice – Marlene – open the front door and run towards her. The young girl was dragging Denzel behind her, the boy looking slightly embarrased.

"Hey Marlene, Denzel! How was school?" she asked with a smile. Both children had been going to a local school for a few months now, ever since the cure for Geostigma had been found – thanks to a certain flower girl. Marlene was very happy to be with children her own age while Denzel was resigned.

"Really good! Teacher told us about all the different countries. And you know what? She said they sometimes have different languages! That's so funny!"

Denzel looked like he wanted to roll his eyes at her naivety, but refrained from doing so. Deciding to play along, Tifa spoke.

"Oh really? And how does she know that?"

Marlene looked thoughtful for a moment, her finger tapping her lips, before her face brightened. "She said she has friends from all over the world. She's got one in Wutai and one in … I don't remember. But it's really cool, right?" After a slight pause she added. "And she said the friend from the country I can't remember is visiting. She's coming to school tomorrow to talk to us!"

"Yuffie is from Wutai, isn't she?" Denzel asked. Tifa was slightly surprised he remembered seeing as he only met the ninja once…. On second thought, no it wasn't. The teenager did shout 'The white rose of Wutai' every time she entered the room. Not too surprising the boy had remembered then.

Recieving a nod as anwer to his question, Denzel turned to Marlene. "Maybe you can ask her to teach you."

The way her eyes lit up at the suggestion showed she was all for it. Tifa chuckled lightly, thinking of the hyperactive teenager sitting down and gathering the patience needed to teach somebody a whole language. _It would definitely be a good lesson, both for Marlene and Yuffie_.

"How about I gave her a call? Ask her if she wants to come over for a bit?"

Both children nodded eagerly. When the whole group had gathered after the whole Sephiroth-business, they had stayed for a while. Yuffie had been one of the ones to stay the longest, the others being Vincent and Barret. She had apparently won the hearts of the children during that time.

"Right. I'll do that right after diner. Do you have any homework?"

Both nodded again but before they could elaborate, the sound of a motorcycle approaching drew their attention.

"Cloud!" Marlene exclaimed happily. She quickly ran outside, Denzel not far behind her.

Tifa was surprised to say the least. Cloud had been home more often now, but he usually came back late. _Maybe he ran out of deliveries_.

It didn't take long for the door to open again. Cloud entered first, one hand holding Marlene's while Denzel trailed behind him. Giving a small smile to Tifa in greeting, he turned his attention back to Marlene, who was talking non-stop.

Walking out of the bar and into the kitchen, Tifa started preparing diner. She was confident Cloud would keep the children occupied.

Cloud joined her fifteen minutes later, helping her with the preparations. He answered her unspoken question with a soft 'doing homework' before taking a knife and starting to cut the vegetables.

* * *

They had just finished diner and were currently sitting around the table, all of them doing some kind of paperwork. Cloud was checking the deliveries he had for next week, tifa was doing invertory of the bar and the kids were finishing up their homework. Suddenly, Marlene spoke up.

"Cloud, what word is important to you?"

The slightly strange question made three heads turn towards the young girl. She blushed a very deep shade of red, realising it did sound strange without a context.

"Umm, I mean is there a word that means something special to you? My teacher's friend is coming to school tomorrow and she speaks another language. She said we can ask her to translate five words if we wanted to. And I was just wondering if you had something you would like to translate." Turning to the other members of the small family, she added "You too, Tifa! Denzel! I just need three more words. So one for each!"

Denzel made a small sound of understanding. However, both he and Cloud stayed silent. Tifa couldn't really blame them. She was having trouble coming up with a word herself. _A word that was important to her. Huh, she had no idea._ To buy some time, she asked the girl.

"What do you have so far, sweetie?"

"I've got 'daddy' and 'flower'." She replied happily.

 _Right. That bought what, five seconds?_

It was silent for a little longer before Denzel uttered a silent "Family". He kept his eyes on the table, but there was no denying the red creeping up his cheeks. She shouldn't have been surprised. The word had always meant alot to the boy.

Beaming at him, Marlene wrote the word on her list. Then she turned her gaze to Tifa. _Oh, my turn?_ Still coming up blank, she shifted her gaze to the blond sitting across from her. That's when inspiration struck.

"Cloud." She said before she really thought about it.

The man threw her a confused glance, asking her why she needed him with his eyes. Realising that now everyone was staring, she quickly gathered her thoughts.

"I want to know what Cloud sounds like in another language. I mean, it has a meaning in ours, so it must have one in another." She completely skipped over why the word was so important. Luckily nobody pointed it out to her, although Cloud threw her another confused look.

Nodding to herself as if agreeing with Tifa's logic, Marlene wrote down the word on her list. Then she turned to Cloud.

Not taking his eyes of Tifa, he answered very carefully. "Tifa" before adding "I want to know what Tifa means."

Feeling embarrased under his gaze, the woman pointed out a flaw in his word.

"I don't think it'll work. 'Tifa' doesn't mean anything. It's just a name." And she was not going to think too hard on why he wanted her name translated.

"Teef works too" he said shrugging his shoulders.

It was Marlene that answered. "That's a good idea! I'll write them both down. They might mean something. You never know."

And that was that. Marlene turned back to her other homework, apparently pleased with their answers. The rest soon followed, although both of the adults were finding it hard to look in each others eyes for the rest of the evening.

* * *

The next day, Marlene entered the house with a confused frown on her face. Seeing this Tifa immediatly asked what was wrong. To which the girl answered.

"The lady translated my words. Like you said, your name doesn't mean anything. But she made a really funny face when she read it. And then later she gave me a letter! She said I had to give it to you and that I couldn't look at it myself."

Confused by this turn of events, Tifa excepted the letter held out for her wordlessly. Telling the girl to start on her homework, she made her way to the couch. Cloud – taking a day off work – peered at her curiously. He looked over her shoulder as she opened the letter and read it. What was written surprised her and she could hear it surprised Cloud as well.

* * *

 _Dear Ms Lockheart,_

 _I would like to tell you that as far as I know your name has no translation in my language, however I felt it important to inform you that the nickname you have adopted for yourself does. Now I know the way it is spoken is different, but the way it is written does have a meaning. And it is not a nice one, I'm afraid to say._

 _Since I think you would probably like to know what this meaning is, I will give a literal translation below. Please keep in mind that I in no way am trying to insult you. I am merely informing you._

' _Teef' literally translates to 'Bitch'. As I said the way it is spoken is different, but I can't ignore the written form._

 _My apologies._

* * *

Needless to say Cloud never called her Teef again.

* * *

 **Just so you know, I didn't make that up. That is what it translates to in my language. And even though I know that the pronounciation is different, my mind automaticaly jumps to the translation. It annoys me greatly!  
**


End file.
